Wealthy leftists in NY start ‘microlooting’ as form of political protest against the billionaires—le

[mystery-ak]

Wealthy leftists in NY start ‘microlooting’ as form of political protest against the billionaires—leave the poor people holding the bag

The lack of awareness and constraints of morality are almost enviable.

Olivia Murray | April 24, 2026

Imagine you’re Jia Tolentino. You’re a child of Filipino immigrants, presumably coming from very humble beginnings, but by some stroke of grace, you find yourself growing up in the great United States in the 90s. You’re able to attend a private Christian school, either because of the generosity of local conservatives, or because your parents can afford it now that they’ve escaped communism and live in a nation where hard work can actually produce meaningful wealth. You’re then even able to attend an elite university, join a sorority, and upon graduation, you’re blessed enough to be able to afford to spend a year as a Peace Corps volunteer.

You then return home, and because of your progressive academic accolades and your feminist opinions on race, marriage, abortion, and “female empowerment,” you land a job in media, and are quickly snatched up by The New Yorker. By another stroke of grace, you’re able to buy a beautiful Brooklyn brownstone, roughly worth $2.5 million, from where you can live out your hipster, leftist Carrie Bradshaw dreams. You buy designer goods, you indulge in expensive balayage hair appointments, you podcast from glamorous luxury apartments, and you shoplift low-cost items from high end grocery stores as a form of protest. You and your comrades call it “microlooting.” You’re only taking things that are small so it’s not that bad, and you’re only taking from the luxury giants, not the small bodegas. The “rich” need to pay, and “food is a human right.”

Yesterday, The Opinions Podcast, a New York Times production, featured culture editor Nadja Speigelman, Hasan Piker (unofficial and self-appointed spokesperson for Hamas), and Tolentino, talking about their advocacy for “microlooting.”

The lack of awareness and constraints of morality are almost enviable.

The entire segment can be found here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bPcz1DAtrE

transcript here


more
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/04/wealthy_leftists_in_ny_start_microlooting_as_form_of_political_protest_against_the_billionaires_leave_the_poor_people_holding_the_bag.html

[mystery-ak]

New Yorker journalist who boasted about shoplifting triggers massive blowback online
Jia Tolentino describes stealing lemons while shopping for a neighbor, prompting widespread criticism online
By Hanna Panreck Fox News
Published April 24, 2026 10:59am EDT

New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino was called out after bragging about stealing from Whole Foods in a Wednesday interview alongside far-left commentator Hasan Piker, who also said he was "pro-stealing."

"I will say, I think that stealing from a big box store — I’ll just state my platform — it’s neither very significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest or direct action. But I did steal from Whole Foods on several occasions," Tolentino said during a New York Times Opinion podcast.

She explained a specific scenario in which she stole lemons from Whole Foods and didn't feel bad about it.

"I’ve been involved in a neighborhood mutual aid group since 2021," Tolentino said. "And so every week I would go get groceries for Miss Nancy, my now-family friend who lived nearby. And she wanted to go to Whole Foods. She wanted food from Whole Foods. And I was like, ‘OK, great.’ And so I’d be getting Miss Nancy all of her groceries, and then I would finish, and I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, four lemons, I forgot four lemons.’ And on several occasions I was like, ‘I’m just going to go back, grab those four lemons and get the hell out.’"

The New York Times' Nadja Spiegelman, who hosted the conversation with Tolentino and Piker, deemed the idea that people are stealing small things from big corporations and feeling justified in doing so, "microlooting."

Tolentino was called out by commentators on X, The Atlantic, The Free Press and even some fellow New Yorkers cited by The New York Post.

The Atlantic's Thomas Chatterton Williams wrote a piece headlined "Theft Is Now Progressive Chic," taking issue with the pair's argument.

"It is difficult to know where to begin with such moral reasoning, if it can be called reasoning," Williams wrote. "At a time of kleptocratic governance and corporate oligarchy, Tolentino and Piker resort to a game of jaded whataboutism. For them, theft is a kind of perverse virtue signaling. Societal problems do not just excuse personal wrongdoing; they ennoble it."

more
https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-yorker-journalist-who-boasted-about-shoplifting-triggers-massive-blowback-online

[Hoodat]

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

-Judges 17:6-

[Free Vulcan]

Forget it Jake, it's New York City.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

"I will say, I think that stealing from a big box store — I’ll just state my platform — it’s neither very significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest or direct action. But I did steal from Whole Foods on several occasions," Tolentino said during a New York Times Opinion podcast.

She explained a specific scenario in which she stole lemons from Whole Foods and didn't feel bad about it.

That attitude is why Luigi Mangione will never be executed for the murder of the United Health CEO.

Hell, New York City may free him to run for Mayor after Mandami is gone.

[Cyber Liberty]

I saw a segment about this on FNC last night, and told Mrs. Liberty this is nothing more than simple Kleptomania...shoplifting not because one needs the items (that one can easily afford to buy), but just for the thrill.

[Smokin Joe]

Stealing is stealing. If you only steal little things when you have means, that's even more despicable. Those little things stolen ultimately most hurt the people who can least afford them.